The Paper Mills Road that starts from the junction at Retteri and ends at Perambur is one of the busiest stretches in north Chennai, which connects the neighbourhoods of Kolathur, Periyar Nagar and Sembium with Perambur. Though only four km long, it takes over 20 minutes to cross the road, thanks to the poor condition of the road, rampant encroachments and haphazard parking.

“After Chennai Metrowater took up work on its water and sewer lines, the already terrible traffic congestion on the Paper Mills Road has gone from bad to worse. The road was damaged during the recent rains, and now it has become ridden with potholes after being dug up for the work. It now takes more than 15 to 20 minutes to reach the Jawaharlal Nehru Salai from Kolathur due to this,” lamented S Janakiraman, a resident of Thirupathi Nagar in Kolathur.

For the motorists taking the road, traffic snarls near Retteri junction became a constant trouble about three years ago, when the work on the flyover was begun. “Now, the damaged road has further slowed down vehicular movement along the road, causing additional headache for the residents. The City Corporation should immediately repair the damaged portion of the road,” urged Janakiraman.

K Shanmugham, who works at a furniture shop at Kolathur, said that the busy road was in the bad condition even before the Metrowater dug up the road for work. “Not only the stretch close to the Retteri junction, the entire four km long stretch has numerous road cuts and potholes hampering the movement of vehicles. There are frequent accidents, particularly involving two-wheelers, when they try to avoid the potholes,” he said. According to Shanmugham, apart from relaying the entire stretch of the road, the Corporation should also widen the road to ensure free flow of traffic.

When asked, a City Corporation official said that the damaged stretch of Paper Mills Road would be re-laid soon to ease the movement of the vehicles. On the demand to widen the road, the official pointed out that the encroachments on the road were already removed following a direction from the Madras High Court.

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